The Telltale Turtle (The Pet Psychic Mysteries)

by Jim Lavene;Joyce Lavene

  "I'm sorry," she finally said to Charlie. "I was wrong about you last night. Baylor tells me it wasn't you outside the building."

  "Of course it wasn't me!" Charlie scratched Baylor's ears. "I wouldn't hurt an animal."

  "I jumped to conclusions." She couldn't believe Baylor was allowing Charlie to touch him without pulling back a bloody finger. "I was upset"

  "That's okay." He looked at the door behind her. "I saw Angellus come out. What's up?"

  A little stirring of self protection made her shy of answering his question completely. No matter what, he'd sent Colin's name and picture to Elmore Tate. She was having a little trouble totally trusting him. "It wasn't much. He had a few questions to ask me."

  "Did it have anything to do with what happened to your cat last night?"

  "Of course I told him about what happened."

  "And you told him about the guy on the radio today?" He held open the door to her Mini Cooper after she'd unlocked it.

  "You were listening?"

  "I was. He sounded like a psycho to me. Was Angellus going to pick him up?"

  So much for not telling him. "He's going to research it."

  "In other words, no. You're on your own."

  "He'll be in touch. I'm going to help him with his hermit crab."

  Charlie closed the car door, but leaned against it. "Hire me. I'll protect you and catch the crazy guy."

  She stared at him with her mouth open until she realized it and brought her lips together. "You have more nerve-"

  "I'm not that expensive and you may need an extra set of eyes.

  "We'll be just fine, Mr. Dowd. Thank you for your generous offer. Baylor and I always manage to get by." She started the car and began moving forward before Charlie stepped back from the door.

  "Honestly," she stared back at him in the rearview mirror as she spoke to Baylor. "I can't even imagine him offering to help if I pay him. Especially after what happened with Colin last night."

  Baylor meowed and lay back against the seat.

  "That's funny coming from you. You never like anyone, but you were letting him scratch your ears. You hate having your ears scratched. I can't believe you trust him"

  Mary Catherine approached the stoplight on Water Street going toward home. The light had just turned red, but one last car made it through the intersection on the yellow light. She put her foot down on the brake to stop the car, but nothing happened.

  She tried again, looking down at the brake pedal to see what was wrong. She pushed her foot up and down on the pedal but nothing happened. She was sailing through the intersection without slowing down.

  Baylor jumped up when he realized her dilemma. He meowed and hissed at traffic headed their way from driveways and the other streets.

  "That's not going to do much good." She pulled up the hand brake but nothing happened. "I don't know what else to do. We either go on this way and risk hitting someone or pull up over the curb and hope it stops us before we hit a building."

  She switched off the engine but the car kept rolling. Trucks honked their horns and drivers swore at her as they got out of her way. "It's no good. I thought we might slow down enough, but we're picking up speed. We have to take our chances with the building. Maybe the curb will stop us"

  Mary Catherine veered sharply to the left. The curb was there beside her, but her turn managed to find a driveway. There were construction scaffolds with workers on them in her path, with nowhere to turn away from them.

  The men in yellow hard hats started yelling and urging her to veer away. She tried to take the car to the right again but it was going too fast. Even though the Mini Cooper was close to the ground, the imbalance was too much. The little car flipped on its side. She didn't knock the men from the scaffolding.

  She didn't move for a moment, taking stock of where she was and trying to figure out if she was okay. Baylor meowed angrily that he was fine, if anyone cared. He vowed never to get in a car with her again.

  Mary Catherine looked out the window, not sure how to get out with the car lying on its right side. She was only being held in place by her seat belt. If she released it, she'd be flung down on top of Baylor on the other seat.

  "Are you okay?" Charlie looked in through the open window. "Is Baylor all right?"

  "We're fine. Can you help us out of here? I'm afraid to release the seat belt."

  "Stay right there. I'll get some help."

  Two burly firemen helped Mary Catherine out of the wrecked car while a third fireman got Baylor out. The cat was playing up the accident as much as possible. He lay on his side, barely moving, pitifully meowing.

  "He's fine," she told the distressed fireman who held the cat. "He's faking it for attention."

  The fireman looked at her, then looked at Baylor. "He seems injured to me, ma'am. Maybe we should call a vet."

  "Maybe. I hope the vet brings a big needle to give him a shot." Mary Catherine mocked her pet's fear of needles.

  Baylor pulled his head up quickly and looked around at the crowd that had gathered at the scene. He stopped meowing and jumped down to the ground at the fireman's feet.

  "You're such a whiner," she told the cat. "I might really be hurt, but you barely moved in the car."

  A paramedic approached her and offered to take her to the hospital. "You may be injured and not realize it," the young woman told her.

  "No, thank you. I'll be fine. It was more a surprise than anything else. I'm sure I'm not hurt."

  They had her sign a statement releasing them from responsibility, then the young paramedic got in her van and drove away. Mary Catherine was more worried about her own little car. It had obviously born the brunt of the misdeed. "It looks like we'll need a doctor for the car," she told the cat who was sniffing it. "At least she protected us."

  "I think there may be something more to this than meets the eye," Charlie said. "Look here"

  Mary Catherine stood beside him and stared at the car. Because it was flipped on its side, she could see the large, oily patch on the bottom. "What is that?"

  "I think someone may have cut your brake line. I noticed something was wrong after you pulled out at the radio station. You left behind some brake fluid. That's why I followed you."

  "You mean someone did this on purpose?"

  "It wouldn't just cut itself," he assured her. "Maybe you should give Angellus a call. Trying to snatch your cat is one thing; trying to kill you is another."

  "I'm not sure he'd agree with you on that." She pulled out her cell phone just as two uniformed police officers approached her for a statement.

  Charlie told them what he'd seen and pointed out the spot on the car. The officers nodded and wrote down what he said. Mary Catherine quickly switched her call to Danny's cell phone, asking if he could come and get her. She also needed the name of a good tow truck driver.

  When she got off the phone, the officers wanted to speak to her. "Is there someone in particular you think might want to hurt you?"

  "No one that I know of, although I'm part of an ongoing murder investigation. I think it's possible that may have made me a target."

  The officers wrote down what she said and they seemed polite enough, but she could tell they thought she was a silly, middleaged woman. She would've insisted they check her story, but a news van came up and started filming the wreck. She remembered what Angellus had said about staying out of the limelight. It would be better to call him herself later.

  "Can I offer you a ride home?" Charlie asked.

  "No, that's all right. Danny's coming. But thank you for following me. It was nice to see a familiar face." Mary Catherine looked at him and felt the absurd urge to cry. She brushed it aside and recalled that she wasn't quite sure about trusting him.

  Baylor reassured her Charlie was trustworthy. She picked up the cat and told him he could be wrong. "You chase mice and half eat them even though you know you're going to get worms and Jenny will have to stick that big probe up your butt. You're not exactly a font o
f wisdom, my friend."

  She waved to Danny when she saw him, excusing herself from Charlie, and hurrying to the side of the old taxi.

  "MC! Como esta? How did this happen? Is Baylor all right?"

  "We're both fine," she answered as she got into the bright orange car. "As to how it happened, Charlie seems to think someone cut the brake line."

  Danny got in behind the steering wheel and made a face at the mention of Charlie's name. "That guy! I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. He ratted Colin out, MC. What were you doing with him, anyway?"

  "Nothing, really. He came looking for me and followed me from the radio station when he saw the car was leaking something."

  "Yeah. Right. He probably cut the line himself. Let's think about this; he was there last night when Baylor was trapped and now he's here today when something happens to your car."

  She considered his words. Hadn't she thought something was odd that day at the apartment when her car wouldn't start and Charlie was conveniently there to offer her a ride to work? Maybe he was responsible for that problem too. "Why would he do anything like that? He's not involved in the murder."

  Danny shrugged as he negotiated the taxi through the onlooker traffic. "Maybe he's involved. He knew right where to find that mujer Tommy says was there when Ferndelle was killed. Maybe there's more to this than we're seeing. What do we know about this guy anyway?"

  Mary Catherine thought about that as they drove toward her apartment. "Baylor says he's trustworthy. He said the man who trapped him wore a different cologne."

  "What about Tommy? Does he recognize Charlie?"

  "He didn't seem to, not like when he saw Charlene." Danny pulled into the drive beside the building. The goat man, in jeans and a faded Margaritaville T-shirt with a broad rimmed straw hat on his gray hair, was sitting outside the clinic on a bench.

  "What are you gonna do about that guy?" Danny smiled and waved at the old man who was watching his goat eat grass.

  She shrugged, noticing a sore spot on the side of her neck that hadn't been there before the accident. She hoped she wasn't too hasty sending the paramedic away. But maybe a hot bath was all she needed. "I don't know. He's not in the way. He just wants to hang out with his goat." "

  I wouldn't want to be you explaining that to Jenny. She's already unhappy with that nice old dude I found to do the handyman stuff around here. What's up with her anyway?"

  "Jenny just likes to complain, but as long as she's willing to work here for almost nothing, I can take it. I'm going upstairs to take it easy for a while before the Meaty Boy taste test."

  "Si, that's right. I've been hearing about that all day on the radio. I can't wait to find out if Meaty Boy is as bad as you say it is."

  "I'm taking Bruno with me and you know he can be terribly honest. I thought jenny's dog, Candy, would be a good bet because she's very particular."

  "Hey! You should take Bubba! He only eats table scraps. If Meaty Boy can win him over, it must not be too bad."

  Mary Catherine accepted Danny's offer, even though she wasn't sure his bassett hound, Bubba, could tell the difference between any food in his mouth. The stories that animal could tell about wild beer parties with Danny were enough to make her shudder.

  "That would be excellent." She was pushed for time she didn't have after the accident. Three dogs would have to be enough. She couldn't be picky which three at this point. She'd never talked to a dog who could stand Meaty Boy. She had no reason to think this would be any different.

  "Bueno! I'll pick you up here at two thirty. Think it would be okay if I come in and watch?"

  "I don't see why not. Thanks for coming to get me. I'll see you later." She smiled and waved to Bernie the handyman who was working on the loose stair outside. The goat man smiled and waved to her as well. She hated to admit it but even that exertion was painful. She was beginning to feel like she'd run a marathon.

  "Are you okay?" Jenny asked from the clinic door. "Danny told us about your accident. Is Baylor all right?"

  Baylor, sensing a sympathetic ear, immediately lapsed into meowing and holding one paw up as Mary Catherine set him down on the tile floor. Jenny picked him up and stroked him. "Poor thing. I'll just take a look at you and make sure everything is all right. After what you went through last night and then the accident today, I'd be surprised if your nerves aren't completely frazzled."

  "Well if you keep feeling sorry for him, he'll let you test him for anything that isn't painful," Mary Catherine told her. "He's the biggest showoff in the world when it comes to something like that"

  "What about you?" Jenny looked at her through her thick spectacles. "You probably need some attention yourself."

  "That's okay. I'll be fine." Mary Catherine began to ease her way up what had become an incredibly long staircase. "I know you have some medical background, but if something is wrong, I'd rather call a people doctor, if you don't mind. I'm going upstairs to take a hot bath. I may need a good massage after this. I think my whole body is bruised."

  It took her a few extra minutes to reach her apartment, but Mary Catherine finally walked into the living room and sank down in her red velvet chair. She looked at the bathroom door but didn't know if she could make it. What had seemed like nothing was very painful now. She began hoping nothing was broken or out of joint. Surely she wouldn't be able to walk if she had a broken bone.

  Her cell phone startled her. She looked at the number. It was Colin. "He called again, Mary Catherine. Detective Angellus was barely out the door when Cousin Bob called and threatened me again. He said if I don't do what he asked me to do, I won't live to see the morning. I don't know what to do."

  "Pack something and get out of town for a few days," she advised. "If he can't find you, he can't hurt you. Detective Angellus is going to pay him a visit that might end this whole problem."

  "But I can't leave town. The police said I have to stay in Wilmington. If I leave, they might arrest me."

  "You have money, Colin. Hire a bodyguard. My second late husband was never without his bodyguard, except in the bedroom. You can do the same thing."

  He thought it over for a moment. "I suppose you're right. I wish this would be over so I could have my life back."

  Mary Catherine was almost too sore to commiserate with him. "It'll all be over soon, I'm sure. In the meantime, protect yourself. Maybe Detective Angellus will have some answers for us today or tomorrow."

  "Thanks. I guess it won't be too bad to hole up here with Mindy."

  "I hope you plan to tell her about Charlene."

  "No! Why should I? It'd only hurt her feelings. It only happened this one time. It won't ever happen again."

  Mary Catherine doubted that. From what she could tell, men who fooled around always fooled around. And that was a rule of thumb for married men. A man who cheated on his fianceewhere would you go from there? "I guess that's your business, but it was really hard to look at her today and not say anything."

  "I appreciate you not telling her," Colin said. "Hang on a minute. There's a knock at the door"

  Mary Catherine waited impatiently since she had only a couple of hours to drag her body into a hot bath, change clothes, and then go to the Meaty Boy taste test. She wasn't looking forward to that event before the accident, now she was sorry she'd ever agreed to it.

  She was holding on to her cell phone and trying to ease herself out of the chair when she heard Colin yelling on the other end. "No! Get back! Leave me alone!"

  "Colin? Are you there? Is everything okay?" Mary Catherine waited for an answer until the phone went dead in her hand.

  ELEVEN

  MARY CATHERINE WAS ABOUT to speed-dial 911 when there was a knock on her outside door. She forced herself up and out of the chair even though her poor body felt as though it was coming apart. "Just a minute," she called out, limping to the door.

  It was the handyman; what was his name? She smiled and frantically searched her memory. "Yes?"

  "I fixed the loose stair,
ma'am." He pulled at the brim of his hat in respect. "What would you like me to start on next?"

  She tried to remember anything on the long list of problems she'd had with the building. Nothing came to mind. And she still couldn't think of his name. "I guess that's all for today. Maybe you could come back tomorrow and we could work on a to-do list for you.

  "Thanks. I'll be back tomorrow then." He turned away and started back down the stairs.

  "Thank you. I appreciate your work" She suddenly recalled his name. "Thanks, Bernie."

  "No problem." He waved without looking back. "See you tomorrow.

  Mary Catherine closed the door and dialed Colin's cell phone number. There was no response; only his voice mail answered. She hated to call Detective Angellus again but this seemed to be part of the same case. She justified it that way and punched in his cell phone number.

  "Angellus here."

  She told him about Colin's phone call after apologizing for calling him again. "I know he's at Mindy's apartment. Should I call the police to go over there? Are you close by?"

  "I'll have an officer swing by," he promised. "I'm out at Bob Jamison's house on Bald Head Island. I don't think he has anything to do with what's happening to Colin or Ferndelle Jamison's death."

  "What could he possibly have said to you that made you believe that?"

  "The man had a stroke a few months back, Mary Catherine. He can't get out of bed much less go around murdering people. From what I can tell, he can't even use the phone to threaten Colin"

  "That doesn't make any sense," she argued. "There has to be another answer."

  "There is. Colin killed his aunt for the money and has spent all this time trying to convince you he's innocent so you can bug me into looking for another suspect. I'd say that's worked pretty well. Up until now anyway."

  "Well, in case this isn't made up and Colin is in trouble, would you call an officer to go by Mindy's apartment on Second Street? We can debate his guilt or innocence later, if he's still alive. I'd go myself but I don't have a car, and Danny is at the airport."